PRG

I know that many of you are not in a 12 Step program around your spending. And that’s totally fine. I believe my message can be helpful to anyone who wants to recover from this debilitating addiction. Of course, I also hope it will resonate enough that you will at least give a program like Debtors Anonymous (DA for short) or Underearners Anonymous a chance to change your life.

I brought this up because I’m going to write about living in reality and making some hard decisions around money, and in doing so, I’ll be mentioning a tool of DA. But the point I’m making is relevant to anyone who wants to recover from compulsive spending regardless of their approach.

What is a Pressure Relief Meeting?

In DA, we have a tool called a pressure relief meeting, or PRM (also called “PRG” or pressure relief group). These meetings generally last an hour to an hour and a half and are comprised of two members in recovery helping a third member.

For beginners, the first order of business is creating a spending plan. Now, bear in mind that the two members aren’t financial planners or experts. They’re just sharing their experience, strength, and hope with the third person to help them along the path of recovery. Once the spending plan is created, the meeting may be about refining the spending plan, shifting priorities, allocating a windfall, or paying for an unexpected expense. And sometimes, it’s purpose may be to find a way to fund a vision.

It’s an amazing (and often healing) process both for the person receiving and the two people giving the help. Even after seven years of recovery, I still have a PRM every couple of months.

Nope, I mean taxes that I will pay in 2014 for tax year 2013 (assuming the Mayans are wrong about tomorrow, of course).

This is highly relevant today, especially for those of us who are on disability or get Social Security or work for ourselves and don’t have taxes automatically taken out of our paychecks.Continue reading →

Pressure Relief Groups and Pressure Relief Meetings
Explains how these unique, powerful tools help remove the pressure from you and encourage you to live an abundant life. Includes how to set up a pressure relief group, what happens at them, and what joy you may experience as you recover from compulsive debting.

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